How do self-construction and functioning within reality work in tandem? Yorgos Lanthimos pushes the boundaries of self-identity by creating what I believe to be one of the most historical films of this generation in Poor Things (2023). The highly anticipated film is a beautiful tale of self-identification, identity, exploration, and world learning.

Based on the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray, Poor Things pulls audiences in for the whole two and half hours and does not cease to let go, even as the credits roll. Utilizing surrealist themes and futuristic modern settings, this film is reminiscent of movies you would study in film theory. This film — which stars Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, and Willem Dafoe — pushes the boundaries of what reality is and can be.

Employing steampunk, futurism, abstractism, and surrealism, Lanthimos turns traditional art themes into a moving picture, all the while indulging audiences in a story that leaves them emotionally and physically affected.

The style of Poor Things reminds me of Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s 1929 short film, “Un Chien Andalou” (An Andalusian Dog), which employs some of the first boundary-pushing scenes in terms of surrealist art. The scene of a razor cutting an eyeball is an image that many film students have a difficult time forgetting.

As we see in Poor Things with God’s handiwork on animals and humans alike, audiences are stuck balancing the violence of the work done on these bodies while understanding its root is in medicine versus inherent violence. This alteration of human and animal bodies is not done with malicious intent, but it can still be hard to watch for certain audience members. If you are not a fan of dogs with duck bodies and men with the sound boxes of goats, well, you should still give it a try.

Lanthimos’ use of blunt conversation, simple yet effective comedic timing, and beautiful visuals leave you wanting to learn more about your own self. The main character, Bella Baxter, makes you look at the world as if it is completely new to you as it is to her. Her adoration for the small and mundane is like a slap in the face in the best way possible. As we go about life, we tend to take advantage of the smallest beauties around us, always searching for something more beautiful and more profound. In reality, the profound is in ourselves as well as in the smallest of actions we take each day.

Like a remaking of Frankenstein, Bella Baxter represents female identity and exploration as well as what it means to be a person in this vast world. Baxter’s point of view pushes the boundaries of reality. Isn’t it strange to think that as much as we think we know about the world, our reality is still different from every other person we pass on the street?

Her blunt speech and honest attitude, paired with a genuine curiosity about the world around her, are influential and inspirational. An important note anyone can take from this film is the vitality of honesty. Being honest with yourself, as well as those around you, turns the world into a more shared version of reality.

Poor Things, by exploring themes of nature versus nurture, social expectations, and power dynamics, leaves you looking at the world through a new lens. Through hyperrealistic visuals and quirky characters, the film takes us by the hand and leads us to see beauty in the mundane.

Article Courtesy of Katie Mann

Feature Image Credit to Searchlight Pictures via IMDb